Fly Away
by LeilaEditer
Summary: "We all have that one friend, the one who completes who you are and makes your life whole... I had a friend like that. His name was Link." World-reknowned medical scientist Zelda Harkinian has just discovered a cure for cancer. While the rest of the world thinks of her success, her amazing miracle drug, she thinks of him and what she couldn't do to save him...


**A little different from my normal, but I've been thinking a lot about cancer and this idea lately. It's inspired by my grandma, my cousin's best friend, and the song Ronan by Taylor Swift. It's a beautiful song, I cried when I heard it. I cry at everything though. I cried twice at Toy Story 3. Anyway, I dedicate this to anyone with cancer and anyone who knows someone fighting, surviving, or dead because of it. **

**This story is very special to me, so please review and tell me what you think.**

**~Leila**

**I used snippets from Ronan and changed the lyrics slightly, but they belong to Taylor Swift. And the Legend of Zelda and its characters belong to Nintendo. I only own the story.**

* * *

"Dr. Harkinian!"

"Zelda! Zelda! Over here!"

"Miss Harkinian! Zelda!"

Doctor Zelda Harkinian stood in front of the massive crowd of reporters, flinching at the constant flash of cameras. Hundreds of people were yelling, battling to be heard over the crowd and thrusting microphones at her face.

"Doctor Harkinian, you recently discovered the cure for cancer, how do you feel?" one reporter, a pudgy man in an expensive suit asked.

"I feel accomplished. This is something I've been working for this my entire life, and now that I've achieved my goal, I feel complete. You know that sense of pride you feel at accomplishing something? Like riding a bike for the first time, or getting a high mark on that test you studied hard for? I feel a little like that, on a larger scale I suppose," she answered, not really listening to the words she was saying.

So many flashing lights, mobs of people, shoving, yelling grabbing...

"Zelda! Over here! You've just accomplished what most scientists would have called impossible. What's your next project?" this time the speaker was a slender woman with glasses perched precariously on her angular nose.

"You know, I'm not quite sure. I've considered staying in the medical field, perhaps finding a cure for the HIV virus, or I've also thought about doing studies on diseases in marine life. Science is such a broad field, there's just too many options to choose from," she told the crowd, trying to look as happy and confident as she could.

_She discovered the cure for cancer, but she was too late. She was too late to save him, too late to do anything..._

"Miss Harkinian, you've been asked many questions about the actual cure, but I don't believe we know the backstory. _Why _did you decide to begin research on cancer? What motivated you to become arguably the most famous scientist in history? What was your inspiration, Zelda?"

This question caught her by surprise. She quickly located the young man who asked the question, her heart thudding as she did so. He looked so much like him...

She swallowed hard and looked around, her palms sweaty. All sounds faded to a jumbled murmur except for her heartbeat, thudding like a bass drum, drowning out the crowd and any rational thoughts she had. _What was your inspiration, Zelda? _

"I... It was because of him."

A hush fell over the crowd, and reporters readied their notepads, their eyes gleaming hungrily, eager to be fed the information she was about to disclose. _Too late to save him... Nothing she could do..._

"We all have that one friend, the one who completes who you are and makes your life whole. The one friend you become blood siblings with and cause trouble with everywhere you go together. Like everyone else, I had a friend like that. His name was Link."

o0o0o0

"Zelly! Zell! Hey, Harkinian! Wake up!"

Her eyes fluttered open, meeting those of the boy hovering inches from her face. She screamed and drew back as he laughed hysterically.

"Link! Get out of my face!" Zell screamed, shoving him away.

"Morning, starshine. Nice to see you too," he laughed, grinning at her. She scowled back and pulled herself into a sitting position.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

He wrinkled his nose. "Geez, your breath smells. Brush your teeth."

"You're the one who put his face two centimeters from mine!" she shot back, crossing her arms. "Anyway, why did you wake me up at this ungodly hour? It better be really, really important."

"It's almost noon," he said, pointing to the pink alarm clock on her nightstand.

"Whatever!"

"Geez, someone woke up on the happy side of the bed this morning. Anyway, I woke you up because one, your mom told me to, and two because we're going on a bike ride."

She blinked. First because her mother dear had sent _him _to wake her, second because he woke her because of a _bike ride_. Not because his mom had her baby, not because he won Indigo-Go tickets, because he wanted to go on a _bike ride_.

"Couldn't this have waited till, I don't know, like four?" she yawned, pulling her covers back over her head.

"Absolutely not! We're going on a picnic," he stated simply, yanking her precious covers away again, leaving her curled up in a small ball to conserve warmth. "Now, get dressed and brush your teeth, woman! Hurry up!" he yelled, leaping off her bed and charging down the stairs.

Yawning, Zell dragged herself to the edge of her bed and sat, her feet braced against the floor, ready for her to stand up. After a complicated series of stretches and yawns, Zell was out of bed and trudging to her closet. She unceremoniously grabbed the first pair of shorts and a basketball t-shirt, throwing her pajamas in a heap on the floor and yanking her clothes on.

After pulling her hair into a bun and by Link's request, brushing her teeth, she bounded down the carpeted steps and into the kitchen, where Link stood conversing with her mom. A picnic basket sat on the counter, its contents veiled by a red gingham cloth. Link grinned upon seeing her arrival.

"Ready Freddy?" he asked, his face alight with excitement.

"Sure. Where are we going? she asked as he waved to her mom and snatched the basket off the counter.

"It's a surprise, Zell, now come on let's go!" he urged, grabbing her wrist and dragging her out the garage door.

Not long afterwards, Zell found herself pedaling down an old gravel trail, the lunch in her bike basket and Link up ahead, trailing dust behind him. They rounded a curve off the bumpy gravel and onto a soft dirt path under a canopy of trees. She frowned. Link had never taken her this way before. What was he up to?

"Hey! Why are we in the woods?" she called.

He turned around to look back at her. "You'll see. I'm still not telling you where we're going. I told you it was a surprise," he reminded her.

"I hate surprises," she grumbled, pedaling faster in an attempt to match his fast pace.

"You're happy today," he remarked.

"I'm never happy until after one!" she cried. "If you hadn't woken me up at the crack of Satan's ass, I would have been extremely pleasant!"

He laughed, swerving to avoid a tree root. "If I might comment, it _is _after one." He glanced down at his watch. "One-oh-three, to be exact. Your mood should have improved three minutes ago."

"But I haven't had breakfast yet! I'm never happy until after my food!"

"Which is why we're conveniently going on a picnic!"

She didn't have an answer to that one. They traveled deeper into the forest, the blanket of trees above them growing thicker and darker, almost completely blotting out the sun. Frowning, she looked back up at Link, who seemed to be unbothered by the fact that it was almost dark.

"Link, are you sure we're going the right way?" she called, growing a little nervous, fantasies of becoming wolf-fodder running through her head.

He turned to look at her, an annoyed scowl on his face. "Of course I'm sure! I'm not an idiot, Zell!"

Her indignation flared, her previous moodiness returning. "Well, _excuse _me, princess! I was only expressing concern for- LINK! LOOK OUT!"

It seemed to happen in slow motion. He turned to look forward again, just in time to see the massive tree root in his path. She could only watch as his front tire caught the root and flipped him off over the handlebars. He landed hard on the dirt, and the bike came next, slamming into his legs and the pedals cutting his face. He was still, and blood ran from his nose.

o0o0o0o

The crowd of interviewers were silent. Zelda looked at all of them, her grief plainly written on her face.

"We took him to the doctor, and while they were checking him for concussions and stitching his face up, they discovered something else. Link had cancer. He had lung cancer, and they gave him six months right then and there. They told us he would be dead in six months."

She took a deep, shaky breath.

"After that, Link was different. He wasn't upset, or irritable or bratty, he was calm. Serene. He wanted to do new things everyday. One day we went cliff-jumping at an old quarry about an hour from where we lived. We made homemade cupcakes and dyed them green, his favorite color. His mom had her second child, a little girl named Arwyn. There was never a wasted day. And he was never happier. There were some dark days when he'd get home from chemo treatments and he'd be completely exhausted, like he was a zombie. Those were the days where we would watch comedies and I'd tell him stories. He lost all of his hair, and I cut mine boy-short to honor him.

"The days ticked away, the months went by, and come six months, we still had Link. By Christmas, we were all hopeful again. We learned how to ski that year and stayed at a lodge up north. We made gingerbread houses and snowmen and snow angels . The doctors said the cancer was stable, but they still only gave him another two months. That didn't faze Link the least. He was ready to take it on, no matter what cancer threw at him.

"January came, and the cancer began to spread again. He was tired more frequent, and he wrote in a journal often. We could tell he was slowing down, but we didn't want to believe it. Then, our miracle happened. A new type of treatment had just recently been developed in Kansas, but it had never been used on a human. They asked him if he would be willing to test the product, and he said yes. They started using the drug on him, and it worked wonders. By March, the cancerous areas had shrunk immensely. By May, it was almost gone. And by June, it was gone.

"Our families were ecstatic. I remember when I found out, I kissed him, right there in the oncologist's office. We all went for Mexican food and got frozen yogurt afterwards. It was a miracle. That summer was the best of my life. Link's energy was back to normal, and we were back to our normal crazy antics. Then in October came the worst news possible. It was back, growing rapidly in his lungs again. They started treatment again immediately, but it was clear by the beginning of December that the drug wasn't working anymore.

"They tried everything. Radiation. Every drug under the sun. I remember giving him entire custard cups of pills and watching his miserable face as he choked down every last one of them. Nothing worked, and the cancer only grew. And in January, he told his parents he'd had enough. He didn't want any more drugs or treatments. He wanted to live out the time he had left without the stress of doctors and IV's and chemotherapy. He was done.

"And he was. In those next three months, he gained his energy back and his mop of blonde hair grew back. We spent every waking second together, and I would sing him to sleep and get up early to help his mom make him breakfast. And in May, right after his sixteenth birthday, it happened."

o0o0o0o0

She sat on the overstuffed chair in the corner of his hospital room, tracing the hideous patterns on the fabric. His parents were talking to him now, holding his hand with tears in their eyes, trying to tell him everything would be okay as he was hooked up to multiple tubes and an oxygen tank. She couldn't bear to see him like this, and it hurt her to even be here in the gray, foreboding hospitals. People died in hospitals.

"Can I talk with Zelda alone?" he rasped, looking over at her, smiling weakly. His parents offered the same weak smiles an nodded.

"Of course dear," his mother said. "Daddy and I will stand in the hallway, okay? Call us when you want us, okay sweetie?"

He nodded as they left the side of his bed. There was an oddly pained expression on his face. "Mom? Dad?" he called after them. They turned back to face him, their faces strained into fake smiles.

"Yes, son?" his dad asked.

"I love you both so, so much. Thank you for everything," he said, smiling at them. A tear spilled down his mom's cheek, and she walked over and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"We love you too, Link. To the moon and back," she whispered.

"Stay fightin', champ, we'll come back in a minute or so," his dad said, ruffling his hair and taking his wife's hand. He watched them leave and didn't take his eyes off of them until he heard the heavy thump of the door shutting.

"Can you come over here Zelda?" he asked in a strained voice. She obliged, shuffling over to his bed and kneeling on the floor next to him.

She stared straight ahead, focusing on the bland gray hospital wall in front of her.

"Zelda, look at me."

She bit her lip and kept her gaze on the same spot on the wall.

"Zelda, please, just look at me!"

She turned to look up at him, her eyes locking with his steady blue ones. And she lost all control. She broke instantly and was sobbing hysterically. Burying her face in his lap, she screamed as the tears kept coming. Why was this happening? This wasn't supposed to happen! He ran his fingers through her hair, trying to smile though tears ran down his cheeks too.

"Please don't cry Zelda. I can't stand it when you cry," he choked out.

"Why did this happen?" she whispered as he stroked her hair. "Why you? Why c-couln't it have been someone else? Anyone else!"

"Shh, Zell calm down. It just happened and we won't ever know why. I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about other things," he told her.

She sniffed and rubbed her pink eyes on her sleeve. "Like what?"

"Like you and I," he said with a grin. "Remember in kindergarten when we used to play spies on the playground?"

"Agent Z and Agent Rocket," she replied with a short laugh. "Whatever in the hell made you think of Agent Rocket?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I like rockets."

It went on like that for a while, exchanging the many memories from each grade. The time they tried to make their parents breakfast in bed but didn't know how to work the toaster so served them frozen waffles. The time they stayed up past midnight to watch a meteor shower. The time the crawled through a sewer tunnel, pretending to be Ninja Turtles. The list just went on and on. They laughed a lot. They smiled a lot. They were happy.

"Zell, I had plans for when I was older," he said, suddenly sobering up.

"No, you _have_ plans for when you _are_ older," she corrected fiercely. He nodded, his eyelids drooping sleepily.

"Can I tell them to you?" he asked, sleep creeping into his voice.

"Of course."

"Well, I plan to graduate high school with at least a 3.7 GPA. Then, I'll go to college with you. Probably Stanford or something fancy like that," he murmured. "One night I'll finally gather the courage to tell you my feelings, and we'll kiss under the stars. Then, after we graduate valedictorians, we'll be married. And we'll have three kids, one girl, two boys. And we'll name them Hylissa, Matthew, and Sheik," he said, tracing her cheek with his fingers, wiping away the single tear that spilled during his story.

"I've always wanted a girl named Hylissa," she whispered. He smiled at her.

"I know. I know, Zelda."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight, careful so as not to mess up any of his tubes and wires. They stayed like that for a minute, in a tight silent embrace.

"Zell? I'm tired. Will you please sing me to sleep, like you do?" he murmured, settling into his pillows, blinking sleepily.

She nodded and tucked his blanket around him. "Anything for you Link, you know that. Which song do you want?" she asked, already knowing his answer.

"The one you always sing," he replied, his voice husky with drowsiness.

"Alright. Come on baby with me," she began, singing softly as she brushed some hair out of his eyes. "We're gonna fly away, from here. Out of this curtained room and this constant gray will just disappear. You were my best for years."

His eyelids began to droop now, and his breathing grew slower.

"Come on baby with me, we're gonna fly away, from here," she sang, her voice almost as whisper. "You were my best for years. I remember the moments, we spent here, I love you to the moon and..."

"Back," he finished for her, his voice a barely audible whisper. "Zelda, thank you. Thanks for being my best friend, my sunshine, my hope. I- I love you..."

His eyelids finally closed and he was still.

"Link?" Zelda whispered.

She could hear that horrible one-toned beep somewhere far off in the distance, signaling another death. She heard the door fly open and feet rush in. Nurses were bustling in, followed by Link's parents who were screaming his name and trying to shake his sleeping form awake. They lost him. Arwyn, who was barely two, lost him. She lost him. He still wore a ghost of a smile. As Zelda was lost in the rush of activity, she finally found the words she had failed to say for so many years.

"I love you too."

o0o0o0o0

The crowd was silent. No one had anything to say, and neither did Zelda. She turned away, clutching her heart, tears stinging her eyes. She had never told that story to anyone. And now the world knew it. As she ran into the bathroom, sobs racking her body, she kept seeing Link's smile and hearing Link's laugh and feeling his hand grabbing her wrist and dragging her along on a bike ride.

_Come on baby with me, we're gonna fly away, from here._

_You were my best for years..._


End file.
